Sunderland V Liverpool

After a two week break, Liverpool travelled up to Sunderland hoping to record a first win of the season but sadly the hope failed to produce such an outcome.

Liverpool started brightly with Fabio Borini having two chances saved but it was Sunderland who made the breakthrough as Craig Gardner went on a run and supplied a cross for Steven Fletcher who tapped in past the ailing Reina to give the Wearsiders the lead.

Frustration grew for Liverpool as Luis Suarez received a booking for 'diving' after he went over John O'Shea's leg and at the halfway point, Liverpool needed to continue with their attacking while improving in the defence to prevent Sunderland closing up the game.


 After the break, Liverpool came achingly close to an equaliser after a break by Glen Johnson allowed him to cut inside and curl a shot which cannoned back off the crossbar. The home side survived yet again as Raheem Sterling put in a cross which caused defensive confusion and ended with Steven Gerrard shooting narrowly past the post.

Sterling continued to be the main threat to Sunderland's and sure enough his cross set up Luis Suarez's equaliser. As the cross came in, Suarez failed to connect with his first attempt after a ricochet from defender Titus Bramble but his second chance hit the back of the net and Liverpool were level and back in the game. Jonjo Shelvey had the chance to secure a maiden win for Liverpool in the final minutes but failed to convert the chance.

Overall, a draw was a fair result as Liverpool's dominance in chances on target left them cursing their luck and Sunderland's resolute defence added to the visitors frustration.

Positives can be taken from the performance of Sterling who over the 90 minutes formed the main threat which was lacking from some of the more senior players and also a draw is better than a defeat.

Young Boys next up in the Europa League before a massive game against Manchester United.

Today's results...

Liverpool v Arsenal

After qualifying for the Europa League group stage to face Anzhi, Udinese and Young Boys, Liverpool turned their attention back to the Premier League and the pursuit of a first win of the season. The lineup included a debut for Nuri Sahin and Raheem Sterling again getting a start alongside Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini.
Liverpool had the first real chance to score via Fabio Borini but he shot wide of Mannone's left post and minutes later the same result came from a Luis Suarez set-piece.

Liverpool looked the most likely to score as the first half went on but were then dealt a massive blow as Gerrard lost possession when trying to put Suarez through on goal only to be intercepted by Podolski who fired the ball up the field to Santi Cazorla who advanced past a back tracking home defence to then lay the ball off to Podolski who's shot crept under Johnson's leg to then take a slight touch off  'keeper Reina and slot in the right corner after 31 minutes.

Liverpool's response to the blow was instant as Gerrard and Borini linked up to put in Sterling but his shot narrowly missed the left post and meant Liverpool went into halftime 1-0 down.

The second half started brightly as Gerrard found space out on the right and crossed looking to pick out Suarez but Suarez looked to have been wrestled to the the ground by Per Mertesacker but appeals for a penatly were turned away by referee Howard Webb while replays showed that Mertesacker had been lucky not to have been sent off.

Downing entered the fray just before the hour mark and setup Suarez who forced a save from Mannone who tipped the shot over the crossbar to stop Liverpool from levelling the score. 

However on 68 minutes, disaster for Liverpool as Cazorla and Giroud linked up passes and Cazorla surged into the box and struck for goal with the ball cannoning off Reina and going in to give the Gunners a two goal lead and leave Liverpool needing a miracle to salvage a point.

Liverpool pressed to get back in the game but in the final 20 minutes their efforts failed to come to fruition and despite an impressive performance another game goes without a win.

The international break could be a blessing and give Brendan Rodgers the chance to find what needs to be done in order for Liverpool to claim a first win which hopefully will come against Sunderland. 

Liverpool v Hearts

After narrowly winning at Tynecastle last week, Liverpool knew a decent performance would see them through to the Europa League group stage and Thursdays effort was more than decent despite drawing 1-1 on the night.

Both sides had chances in the first half but Anfield soon erupted with Liverpool's Adam Morgan tucking the ball into the net only to see his celebrations end with news of the goal being disallowed as the pass he took from Suarez had included the ball leaving the field of play.

After the interval, the pressure built and Morgan received a standing ovation for a superb hour's work as Raheem Sterling took to the field, Henderson carved open Hearts and put Suarez in on goal only for Luis to take the ball too wide, he tried to correct the overrun but this shot deflected behind. Shelvey then tried to setup Suarez but Luis' one touch drag away from 'keeper MacDonald went wide of the far post.

However with just six minutes remaining, Hearts levelled the tie as Templeton's 35 yard strike was fumbled into the net by Reina to send the away end into raptures and have Liverpool cursing their missed chances. Luis Suarez's night had been chance after chance and finally he got his reward as on 88 minutes he took the ball from Gerrard down the left and outran two Hearts defenders to slot home past MacDonald to regain the lead in the tie and level the score on the night. Hearts tried to score again to go through at the expense of Liverpool but to no avail. The full time whistle went and Liverpool qualify for the group stage draw with the narrowest of margins.

Other results were....

Liverpool v Manchester City

After the disaster against West Brom last week, Liverpool sat bottom of the league at kick-off today and looked to kick start the season. Surprises in the starting lineup as Raheem Sterling made his first start in the Premier League and Coates was preferred to Jamie Carragher.

 The game began with a negative for Liverpool as Lucas went off injured after four minutes to be replaced by Jonjo Shelvey, (minor thigh injury). Both teams started well but the best chance fell to Liverpool as a Raheem Sterling cross needed a touch from Fabio Borini to go in and no connection was made. Anfield hearts stopped on 19 minutes as Carlos Tevez's shot took a minuscule touch off Reina to scrape the post and bounce back into play keeping the score goalless.

The breakthrough came on 34 minutes as Steven Gerrard's swinging cross was sliced by City's Kompany over Joe Hart narrowly avoiding an own goal but leading to a corner, in came the corner from Gerrard and GOALLLLL! 1-0 Liverpool as Martin Skrtel powers in a header to score Liverpool's first league goal of the season and cap a period of dominance in possession which was something which rarely happened last season.

The dominance continued and Liverpool ended the half leading 1-0 and with great confidence for the next 45 minutes. Halftime and we are beating the reigning champions = Brilliant.

The lead ended on 63 minutes as a failed clearance by Martin Kelly reached Yaya Toure who buried the equaliser and make it 1-1. City's delight came to a sudden halt on 67 minutes as a free kick awarded after a Kolorov handball saw Luis Suarez rocket the ball past Joe Hart and regain the lead for Liverpool and cause Anfield to erupt, 2-1 Liverpool.

Another Liverpool mistake and City equalise again, Skrtel back passes straight to Carlos Tevez, and Tevez slots past Reina to make it 2-2 on 80 minutes. Jonjo Shelvey nearly regains the lead for Liverpool but his shot sailed over a minute after the equaliser.

The score remained the same till the end and what should have been a massive win resulted in a reasonable draw. Before the game, most Liverpool fans myself included would have taken a draw but after leading twice and in front with ten minutes to go, a draw is a slight disappointment as it leaves us 16th and with our next league game against Arsenal also at home surely it is a must win to give the season a push in the right direction .

Next game is against Hearts in the Europa League Play-off second leg so hopefully my next blog will be with us safely in the group stage draw.

Hearts v Liverpool

Anglo-Scottish ties of the past have seen great games and Thursday's clash lived up to its predecessors with a close game won by an unlucky own goal from Hearts defender Andy Webster.

Both sides had chances to score with Novikovas and Taouil both coming close for Hearts and Fabio Borini smashing a shot against the post just before half-time for Liverpool.  The winning goal came on 78 minutes after a swinging cross from Liverpool right back Martin Kelly missed everyone including the attacking run of Fabio Borini to clip the leg of Andy Webster and give Liverpool a 1-0 win.

Liverpool from the win have an away goal to take back to Anfield for the second leg this coming Thursday with the victor progressing to the Europa League group stage draw.

West Brom v Liverpool

Among all the debuts of the opening day of the Premier League, Steve Clarke (former LFC Asst.Man) and Brendan Rodgers (current LFC manager) took their new teams into a new season both hoping for instant success. For Rodgers the hope turned to disaster as Liverpool were humbled by the Baggies and found themselves occupying 18th in the EPL table.

The game in the first half saw three clear chances for Luis Suarez (LFC) but sadly no goals, WBA claimed the first goal with a stellar strike by Zoltan Gera, who chested it down and volleyed the home side into the lead on 43 minutes and at the halfway point, Liverpool were 45 minutes away from an opening loss.

The shape of the game turned in the 58th minute as Daniel Agger (LFC) 'pushed' WBA's Shane Long over in the area and was unfortunately given a straight red card while Long was awarded the penalty. Liverpool's blushes were spared as a truly weak effort by Long was easily saved by 'keeper Reina.

The penalty count rose barely six minutes later with Martin Skrtel this time the culprit with Long again being fouled, this time Peter Odemwingie stepped up and slotted his team into a 2-0 lead and Liverpool needed an Istanbul-esque comeback to claim anything in this game.

The comeback never began and its hopes were dashed on 77 minutes from a header by Romelu Lukaku (currently on loan from Chelsea) who rose at the back post to give West Brom a 3-0 lead and to wrap the game up for the Baggies.

Liverpool's list of negative records from last season gained an addition with today's result being their worst start to a Premier League season and with home games against Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd in the next few weeks sadly it could be a worse record.

However, there were some positives as new signings Fabio Borini and Joe Allen both played the full 90 minutes, Lucas performed well for an hour before going off for Joe Cole (Cole lasting 11 minutes before suffering an injury) and as Carroll entered the fray for the injured Cole he got into the game a bit even though he was also booked in the final minutes.

Back to the european adventure for Liverpool next as they travel up to face Hearts hoping to bounce back and prepare for the visit of Premier League champions Manchester City next Sunday.

Full Time West Bromwich Albion 3 Liverpool 0

Other Results were as follows....

Liverpool v Bayer Leverkusen

Final preparation for the new Premier League season saw Liverpool take on Bayer Leverkusen managed by Anfield legend Sami Hyypia and they got off to a cracking start thanks to a strike from teen star Raheem Sterling after barely three minutes.

Sterling came inside and let go with an unstoppable shot to open his 'first team' account which many hope will be increased before the year is out. Liverpool and Bayer both had numerous chances to score the game's next goal but luckily for Lucas he notched Liverpool's second just before the half hour as he latched on to a mid-deflection by Kadlec and tapped into an empty net for 2-0.

Substitutions at the half led to a close chance for Henderson and then Shelvey put in Carroll but his header failed to increase the lead. However, he redeemed himself with a stylish shot which flew into the corner and sealed the game at 3-0.

Hopefully it will put him back in Rodgers' plans for the season ahead. Bayer did get a consolation thanks to a well taken goal by Sidney Sam fifteen minutes from the end, a goal the Anfield fans would have been proud to see from one of their own. A good performance overall puts Liverpool in good confidence for the season opener against West Brom next weekend.

Liverpool 3 Bayer Leverkusen 1